My name is Ellis Andrews and I know just where I stand
Descended from the Puritans who colonized this land
There’s an old abandoned fact’ry with our name up there in bricks
I’ve been sending out my resumes and hoping something sticks

The power of tradition is the power of trusting fate
To hand me some good fortune when the hour is getting late
But work has not been steady since the dot-bust of ’01
And the fear of disappearing is pre-empting all my fun

My name is Ellis Andrews and I’ve always done my chores
I’m the hero of my movie just like you must be in yours
Twenty years since graduation I’m still searching for my groove
And an outlet for my skills when the economy improves

My name is Mary Andrews and I’d like to keep my home
But we can’t afford our mortgage on my salary alone
This family’s failing fortunes may be more than I can take
I am married to a decent man who cannot get a break

My name is Elvis Android and I don’t care what you think
My most-unanswered prayer is, Beam me up! This planet stinks!
The power of tradition is the power to prevent
When genocidal profit is the task to which you’re bent
When my optimism falters I just turn on Channel Two
To wallow in nostalgia for a life I never knew
My fathers’ fathers’ fathers made a mess out of this place
If I had the wherewithal I’d checkered-flag the human race

Her name was Autumn Day
She took my breath away
Red hair and jack-o-lantern smile
Her beauty was unique
Her laughter made me weak
She thought she’d stay with me a while

Though she was born to run
She said I was the one
Her love was bold in its insistence
She had a dancer’s lines
Up close she looked so fine
But there were storm clouds in her distance

Her name was Autumn Day
She came but could not stay

Some evenings she would walk
Out where the spirits talk
And she would listen for their song
I don’t know what she heard
She could not find the words
But I could feel something was wrong

I saw the lightning in her eye
I saw the moon go sailing by
I saw the oceans all run dry
And then the rain…

Now here I am, alone
Chilled to my every bone
Warm summer sunshine cannot reach me
Cold winds blow through my heart
My new life will not start
Cold winds blow through my heart
My new life will not start

Earl Crabb was a brilliant man
A gentle man, and generous
His Rolodex was heavy
And his attic was voluminous
He had a million tales to tell
And every one was true
I’m a better man for knowing him
And a better friend to you

Earl Crabb was an easy man
A laughing man, and sociable
To stand before his camera
Was to be well viewed and notable
He had a million friends, you know
And every one was real
A friend of Earl’s is a friend of mine
That’s just the way I feel

Let’s ignore the dominant paradigm
And practice random kindness all the time
Treat our customers like neighbors
Not the other way around
A little more “Share this planet”
And a little less “Stand your ground.”
This world will be a better place
For every boy and girl
If we all do our best to be like Earl

Earl Crabb was a software man
When very few were doin’ it
He made the world a better place
Enhancing and improvin’ it
I know I’m not the only one
Who benefited thus
So I’m making it my mission
To pass on his gifts to us

Let’s ignore the dominant paradigm
And practice random kindness all the time
Treat our customers like neighbors
Not the other way around
A little more “Share this planet”
And a little less “Stand your ground.”
This world will be a better place
For every boy and girl
If we all do our best to be like Earl
I will do my very best to be as kind as Earl

My baby love me and there ain’t no doubt
She took me home for supper
But her daddy threw me out
He went crazy crazy crazy
Ain’t you that driftin’ guitar man?
I said crazy crazy crazy
Daddy you know that’s who I am

My baby love me and she love me good
She let me in the back door
Like she said she would
She went crazy crazy crazy
She helped me hide from her old man
I said crazy crazy crazy
If you’ve got jelly we can jam

My baby love me and she love me right
She said we’ll get this perfect
If it takes us all night
I went crazy crazy crazy
We’d better practice while we can
She said crazy crazy crazy
Let’s leave off right where we began

My ex-girlfriend’s ex-husband was questioning my paradigm
Guess he hadn’t been told the new bones in her cauldron were mine
I was her man of the future til her past came around
It was hell when she took off her spell but I’ve finally come down

She’s got beauty and talent and brains and a problem with men
And I knew she’d be too much too soon, but I couldn’t say when
Her rewrites of history read like a myst’ry to me
While her bed in my bedroom still points to some permanency

She was sure that she wanted me once, but she’s sure now she don’t
And I’m sure I’ll forget her someday but I probably won’t
She’s a female Don Juan; with a wave of her wand I was gone, gone, gone
And that snake that lived next to my heart said it’s time to move on

She did what she had to to get what she needed from me
I got what I wanted until I was no longer free
She made sure I was deeply involved, then dissolved in the air
In the desert of love she’s the girl who was not really there

Narcissistic cathexis is my ex’s pathology
She hooks ’em and crooks ’em and cooks ’em with impunity
I’m damned if I am and I’m damned if I’m not
And damned if I wouldn’t jump back in her pot
‘Cause I’ve seen what’s behind all her masks and her potions
The Parallel Girl’s perpendicular motion
I’ll reach for the truth in her voodoo and juju and jive
And convince her that men are enjoyed best when taken alive

Well, my car’s gassed up and I’m ready to roll
I’ve got one eye open for the highway patrol
The other eye’s open for that freeway sign
Three hundred miles and I’m makin’ good time
My stomach’s growling but my head’s been fed
I’m going’ down to Eugene to see the Grateful Dead

Tape deck’s crankin’ out a rattlin’ sound
In a sympathetic rhythm to the wheel-go-round
Sport utes eatin’ me up alive
This thing don’t do more than 55
But I can sleep in the back, it’s a roadside bed
I’m goin’ down to Eugene to see the Grateful Dead

Everybody needs a little break sometimes
Life gets too precise
Put a little slack in that old straight line
And take some weird advice

Pullin’ into town I’m all eyes and ears
Look at all these friends I ain’t seen all year
Tripped-out hippies, rag and bone
Young dot-com tie dye cellular phone
Delia DeLyon and Tennessee Jed
Are goin’ down to Eugene to see the Grateful Dead

Goin’ through the parkin’ lot I might get lost
Best place in the world to get your wires crossed
Reality shatters when you leap and shout
Some people go in and they never come out
I ain’t been the same since my sanity fled
I’m goin’ down to Eugene to see the Grateful Dead

Everybody needs a little break sometimes
Life gets too precise
Put a little slack in that old straight line
And take some weird advice

Well, the car’s gassed up and I’m ready to roll
I’ve got one eye open for the highway patrol
The other eye’s open for that freeway sign
Six hundred miles and I’m makin’ good time
My stomach’s growlin’ but my head’s been fed
I’m goin’ down to Eugene to see the Grateful Dead
My stomach’s growling but my head’s been fed
I’m goin’ on to the Greek to see the Grateful Dead
Out to Deer Creek to see the Grateful Dead
MSG to see the Grateful Dead
Fillmore East to see the Grateful Dead
Fillmore West to see the Grateful Dead…
Acid Test to see the Grateful Dead

Ain’t been gone a day
I’m headin’ home already
I’ve walked off all the reasons why I’m gone
Had to run away
I couldn’t bear to face it
When I thought you had some outside goings-on

Hope I make it back
Before you find out I’ve been missing
The lovin’ arms
That keep me satisfied
Ain’t been gone a day
I’m headin’ home already
I’ve walked off all the reasons why I’m gone

Mendocino Bay
Never looked so pretty
I’m gonna leave that Little River bridge uncrossed
I’ve been here before
But never once without you
And without you here the atmosphere is lost

Hope I make it back
Before you find out I’ve been missing
The lovin’ arms
That keep me satisfied
Ain’t been gone a day
I’m headin’ home already
I’ve walked off all the reasons why I’m gone
I’ve walked off all the reasons why I’m gone

Livin’ on an island in the mighty Hooker River
Seems a little faster than it did just yesterday
We used to be afraid of falling in when we were children
Times I’ve wished I’d jumped and let it carry me away

Chorus:
Sometimes I can’t remember where I’m going
My inspiration slips away
Sometimes I’d like to be that river flowing
Then I’d know I’m going to make it home some day

Thunder on the ridgetop and the Hooker River coursin’
Sky is hangin’ low with clouds like smoke thrown up from hell
Devil knows the reason for my trouble with the weather
Lord knows where it’s comin’ from &endash; the rain that never fell

Chorus

Walk along the riverside and hear the water working
Rage against the rapids rising higher every day
Ain’t no sense pretending I won’t have to beat it somehow
Tear my house down, build a raft, and ride it come what may

The man who stole the future
Has an oil drum for a heart
And a strange preoccupation
With other people’s private parts
They want us to do what they say
But I’d rather live my own damn way
We’ll take our cultures back someday, but

It’s gonna get worse before it gets better
It’s gonna get worse before it gets better
It’s gonna get worse before it gets better
But I know it’s gonna get better

Yes I know it’s gonna get better
‘Cause it almost always does
Can’t say much about the who and how
But I believe it just because
Day by day our bonds unweave
Mammon gloats as nature grieves
O save us from these pious thieves, and…

It’s gonna get worse before it gets better
It’s gonna get worse before it gets better
It’s gonna get worse before it gets better
But I know it’s gonna get better
I love the world we live in
‘Cause I live in it with you

I don’t know why they’re so proud
To be defined by what they buy
These righteous despoilers, these blood-for-oilers
Taking orders from on high
Now I can’t say whose word I’d take
About this God whose laws I break
I’ll swan-dive into that fiery lake, but…

It’s gonna get worse before it gets better
It’s gonna get worse before it gets better
It’s gonna get worse before it gets better
But I know it’s gonna get better

Endarkened forces are clamping down
On us unconforming souls
Waving flags and bashing fags
And burning truth like coal
Now I don’t know but I’ve been told
The naming rights have all been sold
Hell is hot and Heaven’s cold, and…

It’s gonna get worse before it gets better
It’s gonna get worse before it gets better
It’s gonna get worse before it gets better
But I know it’s gonna get better
I love the world we live in
‘Cause I live in it with you

Yes, and life and song have endless variation
So we embrace the possibilities
The groove is what we all create together
With sympathetic synchronicity
Yes, and what we seek is not just entertainment
And what we make is not just rock’n’roll
We’re teaming up for spiritu’l entrainment
To fortify the body and the soul

Life is a jam
We live to jam
Our music is a soul collaboration
We sing and dance
At every chance
It’s a righteous conflagration
Of concerted inspiration
Our collective intuition
Brings our wishes to fruition

Jamming is a leap into the future
Uncertainty is not a thing to fear
Yes, and when the music’s playing us
No one has to steer the bus
We’re Magellan, Captain Cook, and Marco Polo
What’s next is not a jam – it’s just a solo

Yes, and we don’t know where we’re going til we get there
And we don’t know how it ends until it ends
We do our greatest work when we’re not thinking
And no one can remember what played when
‘Cause what we seek is not just entertainment
And what we make is not just rock’n’roll
We’re teaming up for spiritu’l entrainment
To fortify the body and the soul

Life is a jam
We jam to live
Our music is a soul collaboration
We sing and dance
At every chance
It’s a righteous conflagration
Of concerted inspiration
Our collective intuition
Brings our wishes to fruition

Jamming is a leap into the future
Uncertainty is not a thing to fear
Yes, and when the music’s playing us
No one has to steer the bus
Now, depending on my mood and random factors
We’ll groove, or jam, or segue, or just end.

I’ve got to head for home now
I’ve been on the road too long
Listen to the voices in the breezes calling me
I caught a blow and lost my way
But now I’m sailing on a brand new song
Listen to the voices in the breezes calling me

CHORUS:
What’s another mile to a wanderer?
What’s another sailor to sea?
Just another song
To the man of a million
It’s one more reason to be
And listen
What can the message be?
Listen to the voices in the breezes calling me

I drop my load to rest a while
I close my eyes to hear
Listen to the voices in the breezes calling me
The song is growing stronger
I must be getting near
Listen to the voices in the breezes calling me

CHORUS

I put my ear down on the ground
And listen to the wind
Listen to the voices in the breezes calling me
I fill my sails up with the sound
And haul my anchor in
Listen to the voices in the breezes calling me

Chorus:
I’m gonna find me a live one
Someone who knows just what to do
I’m gonna find me a live one
Make me forget about you

Well, I married the girl of my dreams
When we was both still in our teens
And we had us some real good times
But they sure was lean
When she started eatin’
It drove me right to cheatin’
She got even ’cause I didn’t get rich
I took off runnin’
The victim of a seven-year witch

Chorus

Well, I took off with nowhere to go
In my beetle. It was thirty below
But I found me a hot new friend
When I hit Saint Joe
She told me she was trouble
But she let me buy her doubles
Then she showed me a shortcut home
And when I woke up
The honey and my money were gone

Monica Lewinsky
The name comes trippin’ right off the tongue
Monica Lewinsky
So ambitious and so young
Monica Lewinsky
Clintonian moments in your head
The people of America have been misled
Inquiring minds are overfed
Monica Lewinsky

Monica Lewinsky
Those ruby lips, that black beret
Monica Lewinsky
You gotta be sweatin’ at center stage
Monica Lewinsky
Did the president teach you how to lie
With Mister Jordan standing by
The prosecutor made your mama cry
Monica Lewinsky

Monica Lewinsky
What the hell are you doing in this song?
Monica Lewinsky
I know you didn’t do anything wrong
Monica Lewinsky
Now everybody everywhere knows your name
This is a peculiar kind of fame
You’re a pawn in a crooked game
Monica Lewinsky

I’m a-gonna buy myself a house on a hill
Own more guitars than Crosby and Stills
One day soon I’ll be rockin’ on top of the pile
All I’m doin’ here is payin’ my dues in style

Chorus:
‘Cause I’m gonna be a popstar
A gross of groupies and an armored guard
Maybe buy myself a fancy old car or three
Yes I’m gonna be a rock’n’roll star
Carry moonbeams home in a jar
Stick with me, friends, and we’ll go far
You’ll see
You’ll see

Every concert hall gonna be a gold mine
Half the population out waitin’ in line
Opening night, the crowds are gonna cheer and swoon
And I’ll just drink it all in
And take my time gettin’ in tune

I ran into God a coupla weeks ago
Sittin’ at the bar just before my show
She looks exactly like a female version of me. It’s uncanny.
We got to talkin’ about this’n’that.
Her heart is broken; she’s been laid out flat
Things just didn’t work out the way she planned
It breaks my heart to see my intentions twisted
I’d kick some foolish ass if only I existed”

She said, “I liked you humans better when the wheel was high-tech
You’re gonna leave this place a smokin’ wreck”
I said to her, “What the hell are you lookin’ at me for? I recycle.”
She said, “In my imagination this was built to last
It makes me sad to see you use it up so fast
Driving them Belchfires til the air falls out of the sky

She said, “I love people more than I probably should
You’ve got some crazy ideas about evil and good
Compassion’s out of fashion all around the world
Fundies with their undies in a permanent twist
Don’t they know the heathen have a right to exist
Human nature cannot be denied (and shouldn’t have to)
I meant to lay down the law but I got stoned and missed it
I’d forgive my own sins if only I existed”

And God said, “I’ve been the victim of identity theft
Spiritual robber barons right and left
Ridin’ to church on Sunday in their stretch humvees
Telling everybody who to fear and loathe
Never mind the people they could feed and clothe
And claimin’ that the namin’ of their demons is the word of me
They keep callin’ even though my phone’s unlisted
I’d leave them a message if only I existed

“Some think I’m like Geppetto with his whittling knife
Crafting each and every individual life
It’s such a narcissistic notion of the way things work
(And who they work for)
I made this world you’re ridin’ on in less than a day
I’ve cranked out several million, each unique in its way
Set ’em down and put ’em in spin, and gave nature the deed
Now faith is trying to snuff out reason and you’ve got to resist it
I’d give you some help with that if only I existed.”

Such a lovely planet
Wonder how it came to be
Was it chaos or creation?
Was it God or entropy?
Now the spirit may be sleeping
But it dwells in every heart
I put my faith in nature
Of which we are a part

There are many here among us
Who believe this world is theirs
When it’s beaten and depleted
They will rise into the air
And the ones who don’t believe them
Face a dark, eternal grave
No one knows, but they are certain
Save us from the saved

I put my faith in nature
What I hear and smell and see
Til I meet that higher power
I’ll do what makes sense to me
And if what I would call a good life
Is what you would call depraved
Give me freedom from religion
Save us from the saved

I honor your traditions
And insist you honor mine
In a world with any justice
Blasphemy is not a crime
You believe what you believe in
I respect your wish to pray
But if you try to make me join you
I’ll resist you all the way

I’m not saying I know better
I’m just saying we don’t know
Til the day we get an answer
I go where my heart says go
It’s a narrow-minded Jesus
I see reflected in your eye
He was all about compassion
If he knew you, he would cry

I put my faith in nature
What I hear and smell and see
Til I meet that higher power
I’ll do what makes sense to me
And if what I would call a good life
Is what you must call depraved
Give me freedom from religion
Save us from the saved

Well, I got to work one morning
And they hit me with the news
My job was gone to Timbuktu
It’s the outsourced worker’s blues
They took away my health plan
And that filled me with the fear
I was bouncin’ around the want ads
Lookin’ for a new career
Crisis is opportunity
If you know how to look
I wrote the tale of my travail
And sold a million books
You can’t go sailing blind through life
You’ve got to pay attention
A kick in the ass
Is a shove in the right direction
A kick in the ass
Is a shove in the right direction

My latest lover left me
In a most unpleasant way
And if she had a reason
She was not prepared to say
She took her things and drove away
But she left behind this book
The title was intriguing
So I thought I’d take a look
So many things I’m glad to know
Are contained within that text
If you deal with what you’ve been through
You can deal with what comes next
If you are alert enough
You can make a course correction
A kick in the ass
Is a shove in the right direction
A kick in the ass
Is a shove in the right direction

Now the moral of this story
The point of this here song
Feelin’ sorry for yourself
Won’t help you get along
If you are creative
You can make your own good luck
It’ll get you back out on the road
Instead of being stuck
Don’t let misfortune stop you cold
Or keep you from your dreams
Learn from your predicament
It’s easier than it seems
You’ll crash into a wall or two
While driving for perfection
A kick in the ass
Is a shove in the right direction
A kick in the ass
Is a shove in the right direction

You’re so busy talkin’
You never find out
What ev’ryone else
Is keepin’ quiet about
You’re so busy knockin’
You don’t understand
The door’s wide open
Don’t go breakin’ your hand

CHORUS:
Shut up and listen
A minute or two
Shut up and listen
You could pick up a clue
Shut up and listen
Doot’ n doo doo
Shut up and listen
Yeah I’m talkin’ to you

Shut up and listen
Or you may never learn
Why pigs don’t fly
And why water don’t burn
Why you can’t find a cop
When it’s a cop you need
Why you can’t grow gators
From crocodile seed

CHORUS

Walking in the storm
With my ear to the blast
Thinkin’ each moment
Could be my last
A small still voice
Seemed to beckon within
So quiet in there
You’d hear the drop of a pin
I asked what it wanted,
Said what do you crave?
It said: nothin’ but the first dance
On your grave
I reached for the faucet
And I turned off the storm
Crawled under the bed
To consider reform

CHORUS

You don’t pay attention
You don’t analyze
An ounce of comprehension’s
Worth a ton of surmise
Shut up and listen
And it may come clear
Why the key to your hope’s
The very thing you fear

I’m a sovereign soul
And my freedom is something I mean to enjoy
I’m a sovereign soul
My time and attention are mine to deploy
I’m a sovereign soul
And I was not created by anyone’s God
So I won’t go inferno for breaking his laws
I’m a sovereign soul
And I speak for myself and I do as I please
And I care for my neighbor come famine or freeze
I’m a sovereign soul

I’m a sovereign soul
I know who my friends are and what’s worth the time
And I won’t kiss your ass unless you’re kissing mine
I’m a sovereign soul
I thought I was dead but I came back to life
I’m sticking with this world and taking a wife
She’s a sovereign soul
I’m a sovereign soul
We are sovereign souls

I’m a sovereign soul
And I do what I can to make sense of it all
And I keep myself ready to answer the call
I’m a sovereign soul
And I own my own words and I think for myself
And there’s more to this life than creation of wealth
I’m a sovereign soul
And I honor my word and I pay off my debts
And I tell you my story so I don’t forget
I’m a sovereign soul
We are sovereign souls
You are a sovereign soul

You’d best be glad this guitar ain’t a weapon
I’d strum your lyin’ ass on up to Heaven
But you’d not get in
Takin lessons from that thug
Shakin’ hippies down for drugs
And drinking from that jug
Of stolen liquor

I’ve been runnin’ with a crowd of rowdy rascals
A rootin’ tootin’ band of Eddie Haskells
That bet of Pascal’s
You know it’s not for me
My eyes have yet to see
A scrap of proof that he
Believes in humans

I thought it was a hole that needed fillin’
To you it was a a plan that needed killin’
Supervillain
So you’ve cast me in your flick
You’d make a dead man sick
As if you had been kicked
As much as I have
And after all this storm and drain
You come by to pick my brain
To see what keeps me sane
So you can steal it

I overheard your mumbled malediction
My truth is even stranger than your fiction
This grave addiction
I came for truth and fun,
But I see those days are done
I’m not the only one
Who saw it coming

I thought that you and I would be like brothers
Instead we just keep dissin’ one another
You sorry mutha
After all the tears we’ve cried
Since our broken angel died
These acts of fratricide
Are so offensive
So go tell your kleptocrat
That he ain’t no diplomat
If everybody’s fat
Then what’s the skinny?

I can’t live the way I did
When I was an immortal kid
The things that I ingested were a crime
All that sugar, starch, and lard
Were makin’ my aorta hard
And I’d prefer to live a long, long time

Chorus:
So on market day in our home town
We rise and shine and head on down
Where the families and the farmers meet and thrive
Because we’re taking nature’s course
We get it fresh right from the source
Where the bounty of the county comes alive

We’ll have Yellow Finn potatoes
And some fat heirloom tomatoes
I think the ones that look the weirdest taste the best
I’ll buy fish while you go
Look for English peas for Hugo
And then we’ll shop together for the rest

Chorus

Nature has her reasons
So we’ll eat our foods in season
And I will be more vocal
‘Bout thinking global, eating local

Peaches are all done, by gosh
But soon we’ll have Kabocha squash
The leeks and yams are lookin’ mighty good
Now darlin’ don’t be bummin’
You know those figs are comin’
And honey from the bees in the hood

Cherries won’t be back til June
But pomegranates are comin’ soon
The winter greens are sweeter when it’s cold
We keep our diet balanced
Because healthy life’s a challenge
But its many pleasures can’t be oversold

I saw The Folk Process selling piña coladas at Trader Joe’s
And she’s buying a stairway to Graceland
The Folk Process don’t need no education
The Folk Process wishes it didn’t know now what it didn’t know then

The Folk Process takes a sad song and makes it wanna shout
The Folk Process just called to say she loves you
Melinda was mine til The Folk Process found her
You’ve got a lot of nerve to say The Folk Process is my friend
but you know,

We’re all just folks
We’re all just folks
We’re all just folks
We’re all just folks

The Folk Process sings like Neil Young on purpose
The Folk Process is shopping a screenplay about a blended family of vampire superheroes
The Folk Process started out in a cover band but quickly developed a unique style all her own
The Folk Process is fond of saying, “There ought to be a law!”

We’re all just folks
We’re all just folks
We’re all just folks
We’re all just folks

The Folk Process is addicted to watching cat videos on the Internet
The Folk Process is never very far from now
The Folk Process loses a little in the translation
The Folk Process grows more elaborate in the retelling

We’re all just folks
We’re all just folks
We’re all just folks
We’re all just folks

He came there in the morning
And stood by at the riverside
Where a truth flowed from the hand of Brother John
He closed his eyes and held his breath
And listened for the word
And a new man made the song to carry on

I was born to be the minstrel
To sing in the streets alone
To plant the seeds of the change and then move on
And never see them grown

Son of a fisherman
He sailed the city streets
Catching a life his father never dreamed
Singing like a blindman
And listening with his eyes
His fingers wove the tale of what he’d seen

I was born to be the minstrel
To sing in the streets alone
To plant the seeds of the change and then move on
And never see them grown

He sang for pennies, not for princes
In the alleys of the mad
And what he said wasn’t wrong (wasn’t wrong)
And what he thought wasn’t bad (wasn’t bad)

I looked for him last Saturday
I was downtown with a friend of mine
We checked his favorite spots but he was gone
I closed my eyes and followed him
Back to that river scene
And sang what I remembered of his song

I was born to be the minstrel
To sing in the streets alone
To plant the seeds of the change and then move on
And never see them grown
Never see them grown

Mirrordreamsoflight!
There’s no motion save the passing of the hours
There are things you cannot see from inside towers
For a man must put to sea to be a sailor

The standard-bearer breaks his stride
Falls off the overpass and dies
The season shivers in its tracks and trembles
The portrait that the son had painted
Finds the subject torn and tainted
Haunted by whose future it resembles

Mirrordreamsoflight!
There are seeds of trouble growing in the flowers
Terror tends the guardhouse of the towers
For a man must put to sea to be a sailor

Lightning flashes freeze the rain
He thrashes to avoid the pain
A voice too loud to hear has barely spoken

The sun sets on the thunderheads
Calm regains the watersheds
In nature’s way, some circles can’t be broken

A white cat lifts its head and spits
Like a winter ghost it sits
And hisses threats at all who would address it
You think you know black from white
Well, I know grey from grey at night
I see so clearly, why can’t I express it?

Well I manage these apartments
And I know what people do
One is having drunken nightmares
And they’re doing gas in two
The checkout girl in eight
Has the man in nine up late
The rockin’ and the rollin’ come right through

All the folks in these apartments
Watch the same shows all the time
In the laundromat of life
We always come up short a dime
The cycles never end
Toilets flush and elbows bend
And sometimes ten forgets to draw her blinds

Semi-furnished one-bed room for rent
Month to month our days and nights get spent
Hang a picture in the hall
Read the writing on the wall
And wonder where our inspiration went

Well I thought she must be crazy
When she first came to my door
‘Cause she just moved out last year
When she divorced the guy in four
She loved me loud and clear
Whenever he was here
She had me for revenge and nothing more

Semi-furnished one-bed room for rent
Month to month our lease on life is spent
Hang a picture in the hall
Read the writing on the wall
And wonder where our inspiration went

Please be easy with me
It’s been a long time, you see
Since I’ve been taken down with a smile
I’ve been ramblin’ around
And I’m just back in town
But I’ll only be here for a while

Chorus:
So welcome home your travelin’ man
He’s got more in his heart than in his hands, once again
Welcome home your travelin’ man
He’s got more in his heart than in his hands
And you know he loves you

I’ve had cold-hearted women
When my head was spinnin’
And I have not once been satisfied
Now I’ll stay on the road
With my unsteady load
Til I’ve paid what I owe and claimed my pride

Chorus

Rain on my windshield
The sun in your hair
I can’t help wond’rin’
If you still live there
Now I’ve got to believe
You’ll be waiting for me

Looking in from outside ain’t like looking out from in
It’s more like meeting strangers in the park
Licking triangles of cellophane
With your hands tied
Off a windowpane
Suspended from the ceiling
In the dark

I guess the sooner we get wise
The wiser we will be
I’ll be as wise as I can get
When I get wise to me

Well, I’m trying
Lord knows I’m trying
Sometimes I’m too high-flying
Sometimes I just can’t keep from crying
But time is on my side
And I’ll be fine

Looking in from outside ain’t like looking out from in
It’s more like dodging raindrops in the night
One minute doin’ fine, next one troubled
But happiness shared is happiness doubled
And it looks like everything’s gonna be all right

I guess the sooner we get wise
The wiser we will be
I’ll be as wise as I can get
When I get wise to me

Well, I’m trying
I sure am trying
Sometimes I’m too high-flying
Sometimes I just can’t keep from crying
But time is on my side
And I’ll get by

Trying
Trying
Sometimes I’m too high-flying
Sometimes I just can’t keep from crying
But time is on my side
And I’ll stay high

Looking in from outside ain’t like looking out from in
You wind up hearing sounds that just aren’t there
Like a weather vane that’s rusted
Just keeps pointing west in gale and gust
My iron will is stronger than the air

I guess the sooner we get wise
The wiser we will be
I’ll be as wise as I can get
When I get wise to me

Well, I’m trying
I sure am trying
Sometimes I’m too high-flying
Sometimes I just can’t keep from crying
But time is on my side
And I’ll be fine

She was bored and lonesome
I was new in town
And when her dark brown eyes lit up
There might be no touchin’ down
Double-divorced and drinkin’ doubles
Well, we soon became fast friends
Now I’ve been cut by diamonds
And I’m on the road again

I’m waltzing across Texas
All alone and I don’t know why
She looked at me one morning
With the light gone from her eye
Waltzing across Texas
It’s the only step she knows
And if I can’t see those brown eyes shine
Then I’ll take my blues and go

That poodle dog was barkin’
At her door all through the night
And deep inside her dark brown eyes
I could see the rising light
Then it was gone, quicker than it started
Hallelujah and goodbye
She wound up bored and lonesome again
I took off on the fly

Now I’m waltzing across Texas
All alone and I don’t know why
She looked at me one morning
With the light gone from her eye
Waltzing across Texas
It’s the only step she knows
And if I can’t see those brown eyes shine
Then I’ll take my blues and go

Amy, wherever I am, I love you
Don’t you worry when you’re dreamin’ of me
‘Cause I’m dreamin’ of you
Amy, wherever I am, I love you
Now I’m lost down the road
But I’ll soon be home with you

It’s a long run, touring the States
And it’s no fun gettin’ in late
On my own, sleeping alone
Wish I was home
Cross the desert dust and sand
Same old card games with the same old band
But the music’s fun, and when we get done
I’ll be home

Who killed Uncle John
And kept the show from going on?
“Not I,” said the nitrous man
Counting money in his van
“The parking lot’s my neighborhood
I’m sure the show inside was good”
“Not I,” said the tribute band
Playing for nostalgic fans
“It’s everybody’s flame to keep
Twice as high and half as deep”
It wasn’t me who stopped his heart
I served the man who served his art

Who killed Uncle John
And kept the show from going on?
“Not I,” said the idiot
Flaming on the Internet
“He owed his wealth to guys like me
I take his work so seriously”
“Not I,” said the completist
Fondling his compact discs
“I’m sorry that he’s gone away
I’ll soon own every note he played”
It wasn’t me who stopped his heart
I served the man who served his art

Who killed Uncle John
And kept the show from going on?
“Not I,” said the mainstream press
“I found his image ludicrous
His followers were so uncool
I made him out to be a fool”
“Not I,” said the publicist
Protecting him from journalists
“I’m writing his biography
I needed him to talk to me”
It wasn’t me who stopped his heart
I served the man who served his art

“Not I,” said the acid-head
“And I don’t think he’s really dead
He served his time in hell on earth
Only I know his true worth”
“Not I,” said the heroin
Slouching into Terrapin
“I helped him to escape his fame
By letting him forget his name”
It wasn’t me who stopped his heart
I served the man who served his art

Who killed Uncle John
And kept the show from going on?
“Not I,” said the engineer
Whispering in someone’s ear
“I woke up worried every day
And went to bed each night that way”
“Not I,” said the kwipment krew
“He loved me and hated you
Guts to open, trips to win
I stayed right in the game with him”
It wasn’t me who stopped his heart
I served the man who served his art

Who killed Uncle John
And kept the show from going on?
“Not I,” said the dharma bum
Speaking through his talking drum
“Not I,” said the entourage
manufacturing mirage
“Not I,” said the man from merch
Selling souvenirs in church
“Not I,” said the radio host
Refusing to give up the ghost
“Not I,” said the DEA
Deploying agents where he played
“Not I,” said the troubadour
“Not I” —

“Not I,” said the dancing girl
Interrupted in mid-twirl
“I’ll show you where the spirit went
I’ll meet you at the Incident”

He spends his whole work day unmanned and unnerved Goes out every night for the fun he deserves Nine times out of ten he is way over-served And then he begins to declaim Of conspiracies, “fake news,” and blame And I say…

I don’t want to be in your movie today
It’s a role I’m not prepared to play
Don’t want to be in your movie today

Coyote, there is just no comprehending
These metaphors you’re trying to put in play
And when I start to feel my patience ending
That’s when I know it’s time to step away

You run with these preposterous assumptions
Demanding I believe it ‘cause you say
But I prefer to trust my higher functions
And focus on reality today

I don’t want to be in your movie today
It’s a role I’m not prepared to play
Don’t want to be in your movie today

Your natterings evince no introspection
I find that there’s no reason in your rhyme
And standing here reflecting your projections
Is not the way I choose to spend my time

I don’t want to be in your movie today
It’s a role I’m not prepared to play
Don’t want to be in your movie today